Definition of "snowball" [snow•ball]

• A mass of soft, wet snow packed into a ball that can be thrown, as in play. (noun)
• Chiefly Southern U.S. A cup of crushed or shaved ice flavored with colored syrup. (noun)
• Any of several plants having rounded clusters of white flowers, as the guelder rose and certain species of the arrowwood. (noun)
• To grow rapidly in significance, importance, or size: problems that snowballed by the hour. (verb-intransitive)
• To throw snowballs. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Maier's photographs to a blog , which he describes as a snowball that just started rolling and has just been building ever since."
• "“Someday, I’d like another cat,” she continues, the word snowball resonating for her too with memories."
• "I'm not a soldier -- I don't even like getting in snowball fights -- so I can only look at this film as a movie fan."